Van Halen Finalize 2012 Concert Tour Dates
It wasn’t long ago that Van Halen announced that they will be touring and releasing a new album, the first with David Lee Roth since 1984 was released in, of course, 1984. And now the dates for the tour have finally been released along with the album release date. A Different Kind of Truth will be released on February 7 on Interscope Records, and the tour will kick off shortly thereafter on February 18 in Louisville, Ky. at the KFC Yum! Center. The extensive 45-date North American tour will last through June 26 when it concludes at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans. Major cities that will be hit throughout the tour include Philadelphia, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Houston and a two-night stand at Madison Square Garden in New York.
On Thursday, the band performed a brief set at New York’s very small, underground venue Café Wha? The band chose the venue because it has been owned by Roth’s uncle in its sixties heyday when artists like Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix performed there. During the brief performance, the band made no official announcements about the upcoming tour or album, but did play a previously unreleased song Roth introduced as “She’s the Woman.” The band also tore through renditions of hits like “Jump,” “Hot for Teacher” and “Panama.”
This incarnation includes all original members of Van Halen other than bassist Mike Anthony, who currently plays in the band Chickenfoot with former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar. Anthony is replaced by Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang Van Halen. Alex Van Halen rounds out the lineup on drums. Roth sung for the band sporadically since he originally left in 1985, and has been touring with the band since 2006, though they have released no new music. 1984 was one of the band’s most popular albums, both critically and commericially, and “Jump,” “Hot for Teacher” and “Panama.”